230 REPTILES AND BATRACHIANS 



the most beautiful of all frogs, being bright green, with 

 spots and streaks of golden bronze, differs much from most 

 of the other members of the genus, and agrees, both in 

 general shape, as well as in its habits, with the Edible Frog 

 of Europe. The discs of the lingers and toes are small, 

 and are not much used for climbing. Unlike most Tree- 

 frogs, this species keeps to the borders of stagnant ponds, 

 and is seldom found on trees or bushes. The note of the 

 male is somewhat similar to that of the " Ferreiro," H. 

 faber^ and resembles the mallet and chisel sounds of a 

 number of stonemasons. The late Prof. McCoy, of ' 

 Melbourne University, relates a story of how, when a large i 

 building was being erected close to his house, a newly • 

 arrived servant of his, writing home an account of the busy i 

 scene, mentioned that the masons could be heard at work , 

 the whole of the moonlight nights — so completely alike 

 was the sound of the Golden Tree-Frogs in an adjoining ' 

 pond, at night, to the noise of the men by day. In , 

 summer the note is also said to resemble the " clunk " of j 

 the cattle bells, and the farmers seeking their cows at dusk | 

 are said to have great difficulty in telling the one from the \ 

 other. 



The feeding habits of the H. aurea are similar to those j 

 of the Edible Frog, its food consisting almost entirely of | 

 earthworms and other small frogs. 'J 



H. venulosa, of Tropical South America and the West | 

 Indies, has the upper surfaces remarkably warty. It \ 

 never evades capture, but relies on covering itself with a ) 

 very pungent and sticky lather in defending itself from its 1 

 enemies. 1 



The Tree-frogs of the genus Pbyllomedusa, represented 1 

 by some fifteen species, inhabiting Tropical America, may ' 



